Visual test workload execution modeling

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present invention include a method, system and computer program product for creating a test workload execution model. The method includes a processor determining relationships between a work unit and one or more activities in a set of activities that the work unit exercises by utilizing one or more data stores; determining a distribution of the one or more activities in the set of activities; providing a control for each of the one or more activities in the set of activities; responding to a change in a control for one of the one or more activities in the set of activities; and determining whether to perform a store activity or a view activity.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the testing of software, and morespecifically, to a method, system and computer program product thatimplement aspects of workload and operational profiling, therebyresulting in improvements in the testing of customer software.

In the field of software testing, as in many other technical fields,improvements are constantly being sought, primarily for cost andaccuracy reasons. A fundamental goal of software testing in theory is toidentify all of the problems in a customer's software program before theprogram is released for use by the customer. However, in reality this isfar from the case as typically a software program is released to thecustomer having some number of problems that were unidentified duringthe software development and testing process.

A relatively more proactive approach to improving software testing issought that employs traditional methods of understanding characteristicsof clients' environments, augmented with a process of data miningempirical systems data. Such client environment and workload profilinganalysis may result in software test improvements based oncharacteristics comparisons between the client and the testenvironments.

SUMMARY

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, acomputer-implemented method includes determining, by a processor,relationships between a work unit and one or more activities in a set ofactivities that the work unit exercises by utilizing one or more datastores; determining, by the processor, a distribution of the one or moreactivities in the set of activities; and providing, by the processor, acontrol for each of the one or more activities in the set of activities.The method also includes responding, by the processor, to a change in acontrol for one of the one or more activities in the set of activities;and determining, by the processor, whether to perform a store activityor a view activity.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a systemincludes a processor in communication with one or more types of memory,the processor configured to determine relationships between a work unitand one or more activities in a set of activities that the work unitexercises by utilizing one or more data stores; to determine adistribution of the one or more activities in the set of activities; andto provide a control for each of the one or more activities in the setof activities. The processor is also configured to provide a control foreach of the one or more activities in the set of activities, and todetermine whether to perform a store activity or a view activity.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computerprogram product includes a non-transitory storage medium readable by aprocessing circuit and storing instructions for execution by theprocessing circuit for performing a method that includes determining, bya processor, relationships between a work unit and one or moreactivities in a set of activities that the work unit exercises byutilizing one or more data stores; determining, by the processor, adistribution of the one or more activities in the set of activities; andproviding, by the processor, a control for each of the one or moreactivities in the set of activities. The method also includesresponding, by the processor, to a change in a control for one of theone or more activities in the set of activities; and determining, by theprocessor, whether to perform a store activity or a view activity.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention. For a better understanding of the invention with theadvantages and the features, refer to the description and to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing environment according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts abstraction model layers according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a processingsystem for practice of the teachings herein;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for creating a test workloadexecution model in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a screen display showing a visual user interfaceto a test workload execution model that is created by the method of theflow diagram of FIG. 4, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and a method 96 for creating a test workloadexecution model in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a processing system 100 forimplementing the teachings herein according to one or more embodiments.The system 100 has one or more central processing units (processors) 101a, 101 b, 101 c, etc. (collectively or generically referred to asprocessor(s) 101). In one embodiment, each processor 101 may include areduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor. Processors 101are coupled to system memory 114 and various other components via asystem bus 113. Read only memory (ROM) 102 is coupled to the system bus113 and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS), which controlscertain basic functions of system 100.

FIG. 3 further depicts an input/output (I/O) adapter 107 and a networkadapter 106 coupled to the system bus 113. I/O adapter 107 may be asmall computer system interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with ahard disk 103 and/or tape storage drive 105 or any other similarcomponent. I/O adapter 107, hard disk 103, and tape storage device 105are collectively referred to herein as mass storage 104. Operatingsystem 120 for execution on the processing system 100 may be stored inmass storage 104. A network adapter 106 interconnects bus 113 with anoutside network 116 enabling data processing system 100 to communicatewith other such systems. A screen (e.g., a display monitor) 115 isconnected to system bus 113 by display adaptor 112, which may include agraphics adapter to improve the performance of graphics intensiveapplications and a video controller. In one embodiment, adapters 107,106, and 112 may be connected to one or more I/O busses that areconnected to system bus 113 via an intermediate bus bridge (not shown).Suitable I/O buses for connecting peripheral devices such as hard diskcontrollers, network adapters, and graphics adapters typically includecommon protocols, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).Additional input/output devices are shown as connected to system bus 113via user interface adapter 108 and display adapter 112. A keyboard 109,mouse 110, and speaker 111 all interconnected to bus 113 via userinterface adapter 108, which may include, for example, a Super I/O chipintegrating multiple device adapters into a single integrated circuit.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing system 100 includes a graphicsprocessing unit 130. Graphics processing unit 130 is a specializedelectronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to acceleratethe creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to adisplay. In general, graphics processing unit 130 is very efficient atmanipulating computer graphics and image processing, and has a highlyparallel structure that makes it more effective than general-purposeCPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done inparallel.

Thus, as configured in FIG. 3, the system 100 includes processingcapability in the form of processors 101, storage capability includingsystem memory 114 and mass storage 104, input means such as keyboard 109and mouse 110, and output capability including speaker 111 and display115. In one embodiment, a portion of system memory 114 and mass storage104 collectively store an operating system to coordinate the functionsof the various components shown in FIG. 3.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention,methods, systems, and computer program products are disclosed forcreating a test workload execution model.

In software testing, it is not at all uncommon to run tests andworkloads with a model that is not productive. Workload variation andconvergence to customer activity are required in order to target defectsmost likely to impact a customer. Having test workload activity that ismodeled after real customer production environments is desirable forfinding the right defects.

One or more embodiments of the present invention utilize a body ofavailable workload work unit activity data, data store activity data,and a workload execution distribution scheme. From this, a test workloadexecution can be modeled with customer data convergence as a goal.

Exemplary embodiments include methods, systems and computer programproducts for traditional and cloud based storage of workload models thatare created using a visual interface. Workload models can be created,stored for others to use, and for future use. The models contain theinformation about the execution distribution of workload work units.Each work unit exercises a set of activities that utilize one or moredata stores. By creating and storing the work unit activities by workunit and data store, one can create distribution adjustment controlssuch as sliders to increase or decrease the amount of an activity.Furthermore, the activities can be grouped by work unit (transaction),data store (database), main activity for a unit of work, atomic activityfor a unit of work, or combo activity for multiple activities in a unitof work. With the control value and the available workload work unitdata, one can adjust the workload execution distribution to match thevisual model being displayed. In this way, a tester or analyst can seethe change and understand if the change may help or harm convergence toa customer activity model.

The workload data required for execution distribution modeling includesthe data store mapping for work unit activity and work unit mapping. Anexecution distribution is calculated using this information. Since eachwork unit activities are known, creating a distribution is as simple asa multiplication.

Relatively high value customers such as OLTP (online transactionprocessing) virtual user simulation workloads that load and stress testVSAM/RLS, DB2, IMS, CICS, etc. are driven by TPNS (teleprocessingnetwork simulation). These were originally designed as performancebenchmark workloads. When these workloads were adopted as systems levelload and stress test vehicles, there was little or no consideration tothe fact that the transaction mix was setup and reused relentlesslybecause, with LSPR benchmark testing, repeatable results are desired.However, in a large systems load and stress test this is not the mostdesirable workload characteristic to maintain.

The load is created by one or more workload's activity as the driver ofthe system conditions of high processor, I/O, communications, graphics,etc. (system resource) utilization. Stress is the resulting systemresource constraints that cause system component interactions andtimings to change where overall performance can become limited and beginto degrade. A relatively highly stressed system is more likely toencounter problems as compared to a system with relatively low stresslevels. A big difference in mainframe computing systems versus smallersystems is that mainframes are capable of consistently running atextremely high utilization rates—close to 100%. For this reason load andstress of the system is an important aspect of mainframe testing. Anexample of load and stress is if the system is scaled up with more andfaster processors and I/O devices and more memory (reduce stress on thesystem), then the system can handle more load (higher workload activitylevels).

In large systems, load and stress testing having variability in the mixof transactions is key to driving different system pressure points. Thisvariability exercises different code paths in the target components andis more desirable from a defect discovery point of view. One of thedifficulties in adding variability is that intimate workload applicationknowledge is required and few or no test personnel possess the requiredapplication level skill. The intimate knowledge of the application needsto be quantified and made available in a simple to use tool that allowstest personnel without intimate application level knowledge to model atransaction mix and visually see the changes prior to running a givenworkload.

TPNS has PATH and DIST parameters that allow a particular mix anddistribution for each transaction. However, there is no way to model thedistribution relating to transaction or database. There is also no wayto model the distribution from a transaction activity point of view.

Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention utilize testworkload application information relating transaction activity totransaction data store, to thereby visually model the execution mix oftransactions for the test workload. The resulting mix is used to createa transaction distribution to be followed by the user simulation toolsuch that each transaction is appropriately exercised according to thevisual model.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram illustrates a method 200according to one or more embodiments of the present invention forcreating a test workload execution model. The terms “create” or“creating” a model as used herein may mean the initial creation of a“new” model where none existed beforehand, or the adjustment to variouswork unit activities of an existing model such that a “new” model iscreated.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the method 200 maybe embodied in software that is executed by computer elements locatedwithin a network that may reside in the cloud, such as the cloudcomputing environment 50 described hereinabove and illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2. In other embodiments, the computer elements may reside on acomputer system or processing system, such as the processing system 100described hereinabove and illustrated in FIG. 3, or in some other typeof computing or processing environment.

The method 200 begins in block 204, followed by block 208 in which anoperation defines or determines relationships between a work unit andthe one or more activities in a set of activities that the work unitexercises by utilizing one or more data stores.

In block 212, an operation is performed in which the activitydistribution of the work unit is defined or determined based on therelationships determined in block 208.

In block 216, various controls are provided to a user for adjusting theamount of each of the one or more activities in the work unit of thetest workload execution model.

Referring also to FIG. 5, there illustrated is a diagram 304 of a screendisplay 300 showing a visual user interface to a test workload executionmodel that is created by the method of the flow diagram of FIG. 4, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

In block 220, the model is responsive to any changes made by the user tothe distribution of any one or more of the activities in the work unitsuch that the model reflects the desired changes made thereto. This way,the user can update or revise the test workload model in a relativelyeasy manner to thereby “create” a new model. For example, as illustratedin the diagram 304 of FIG. 5, a “Modeling Control” area 308 comprises,in an exemplary embodiment, a multiple of horizontal slider controlsthat a user may use on the display screen 300 by placing the cursor overany slider and then moving the cursor either right or left to controlthe increase or decrease in the amount of an activity of a work unit inthe test workload model.

In block 224, an operation determines if it is desired to store thecurrent version of the test workload model for test use at some point inthe future. If so, in block 240 the test workload model is stored forlater use, and then the method 200 ends in block 244.

Instead, if it determined in block 224 that it is desired to viewvarious types of work unit activities, a block 228 includes an operationin which the diagram 304 displays a current view of the work unitactivity by, e.g., transaction. This is shown in the area 316 in thediagram 304 of FIG. 5, which is located within a larger area 312 of thediagram 304 labeled “Modeling Result.” There the various “Transactions”shown in the left most column in the area 308 have their resultingactivity levels depicted in the area 316 by bar charts, using, e.g.colors.

In block 232, an operation is performed which displays the current viewof the work unit activity by, e.g., data store or database. This isshown in the area 320 in the diagram 304 of FIG. 5. Again, bar charts incolor may be used to indicate the various different levels of activityby the various data stores within the work unit.

In block 236, an operation is performed which displays the current viewof the work unit activity by, e.g., activity type. This is shown in thearea 324 in the diagram 304 of FIG. 5. Again, bar charts in color may beused to indicate the various different levels of activity by the varioustypes of activities within the work unit. Also, a donut chart may beused within the area 324 to illustrate the percentage of activity by thevarious activity types, again through use of colors.

The method 200 of FIG. 4 then branches back to block 220 and continueson from there as previously described herein above.

Thus, it can be seen from the foregoing that when the user changes avalue of any one or more activities within the work unit, the user canimmediately receive feedback by looking at the corresponding change thatoccurs in the various graphs and charts within the “Modeling Result”area 312 of the diagram of FIG. 5.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network(WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (forexample, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). Insome embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following definitions and abbreviations are to be used for theinterpretation of the claims and the specification. As used herein, theterms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,”“having,” “contains” or “containing,” or any other variation thereof,are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, acomposition, a mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus thatcomprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only thoseelements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such composition, mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus.

As used herein, the articles “a” and “an” preceding an element orcomponent are intended to be nonrestrictive regarding the number ofinstances (i.e., occurrences) of the element or component. Therefore,“a” or “an” should be read to include one or at least one, and thesingular word form of the element or component also includes the pluralunless the number is obviously meant to be singular.

As used herein, the terms “invention” or “present invention” arenon-limiting terms and not intended to refer to any single aspect of theparticular invention but encompass all possible aspects as described inthe specification and the claims.

As used herein, the term “about” modifying the quantity of aningredient, component, or reactant of the invention employed refers tovariation in the numerical quantity that can occur, for example, throughtypical measuring and liquid handling procedures used for makingconcentrates or solutions. Furthermore, variation can occur frominadvertent error in measuring procedures, differences in themanufacture, source, or purity of the ingredients employed to make thecompositions or carry out the methods, and the like. In one aspect, theterm “about” means within 10% of the reported numerical value. Inanother aspect, the term “about” means within 5% of the reportednumerical value. Yet, in another aspect, the term “about” means within10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% of the reported numerical value.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

1.-7. (canceled)
 8. A system comprising: a processor in communicationwith one or more types of memory, the processor configured to: determinerelationships between a work unit and one or more activities in a set ofactivities that the work unit exercises by utilizing one or more datastores; determine a distribution of the one or more activities in theset of activities; provide a control for each of the one or moreactivities in the set of activities; respond to a change in a controlfor one of the one or more activities in the set of activities; anddetermine whether to perform a store activity or a view activity.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8 wherein the processor configured to respond to achange in a control for one of the one or more activities in the set ofactivities comprises the processor configured to create a test workloadexecution model.
 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the processorconfigured to determine whether to perform a store activity or a viewactivity comprises the processor configured to store the test workloadexecution model.
 11. The system of claim 9 wherein the processorconfigured to determine whether to perform a store activity or a viewactivity comprises the processor configured to provide a view of thetest workload execution model.
 12. The system of claim 11 wherein theprocessor configured to provide a view of the test workload executionmodel comprises the processor configured to provide a visual display ofeach of the one or more activities of the work unit by transaction. 13.The system of claim 11 wherein the processor configured to provide aview of the test workload execution model comprises the processorconfigured to provide a visual display of each of the one or moreactivities of the work unit by data store.
 14. The system of claim 11wherein the processor configured to provide a view of the test workloadexecution model comprises the processor configured to provide a visualdisplay of each of the one or more activities of the work unit byactivity type.
 15. A computer program product comprising: anon-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit andstoring instructions for execution by the processing circuit forperforming a method comprising: determining, by a processor,relationships between a work unit and one or more activities in a set ofactivities that the work unit exercises by utilizing one or more datastores; determining, by the processor, a distribution of the one or moreactivities in the set of activities; providing, by the processor, acontrol for each of the one or more activities in the set of activities;responding, by the processor, to a change in a control for one of theone or more activities in the set of activities; and determining, by theprocessor, whether to perform a store activity or a view activity. 16.The computer program product of claim 15 wherein responding, by theprocessor, to a change in a control for one of the one or moreactivities in the set of activities comprises creating, by theprocessor, a test workload execution model.
 17. The computer programproduct of claim 16 wherein determining, by the processor, whether toperform a store activity or a view activity comprises storing, by theprocessor, the test workload execution model.
 18. The computer programproduct of claim 16 wherein determining, by the processor, whether toperform a store activity or a view activity comprises providing, by theprocessor, a view of the test workload execution model by transaction.19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein providing, by theprocessor, a view of the test workload execution model comprisesproviding, by the processor, a visual display of each of the one or moreactivities of the work unit by data store.
 20. The computer programproduct of claim 18 wherein providing, by the processor, a view of thetest workload execution model comprises providing, by the processor, avisual display of each of the one or more activities of the work unit byactivity type.